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Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Book Review/Giveaway: Give 'Em Pumpkin to Talk About by Joyce & Jim Lavene

From the publisher: Richmond attorney Sarah Tucker returns to sell her family’s abandoned farm in Misty River, Virginia despite unanswered questions about her grandparents’ disappearance sixteen years earlier. Sarah was only twelve when she went to visit and found her grandparents had vanished. No amount of searching has brought answers. Now Sarah is faced with other issues when a man is killed who claimed to have information about what happened to her grandparents. She learns of a Confederate chest of gold that is said to be buried on the property, and treasure hunters who are willing to do anything to get their hands on it.

Were her grandparents murdered for the gold? Sarah can’t sell the land and go back to her life until she has answers. But the cost of the answers may be her life.

Much to my family's dismay, I am obsessed with "pumpkin everything" in the fall, so I've been just giddy over the idea of a Pumpkin Patch mystery series.

Give 'Em Pumpkin to Talk About introduces us to Sarah Tucker, a big city lawyer who returns to grandparents' farm with plans to sell it. She has such wonderful memories of the farm and pumpkin patch as a little girl, but it all ended tragically when her beloved grandparents vanished off the face of the earth 16 years ago. As soon as she arrives at the farm she encounters Jack, a man who was taken in by Sarah's grandparents as a child and has kept his promise all these years to watch over the farm. He instantly can sense that she has mixed feelings about selling. When a retired writer contacts Sarah saying that he has information related to the disappearance, they agree to meet at the farm. But he's murdered before she gets there. Then a promising buyer of the property ends up dead as well. Are rumors of Civil War gold buried on the land the cause of all the trouble?

I loved the backstory to this mystery, particularly the details surrounding Tommy and Bess Denning's disappearance. It's so creepy to picture the farmhouse completely normal, nothing out of place, the dining room table set for a meal...but all inhabitants are gone. Old abandoned houses make such a great setting.

I'm really looking forward to the next book in this series and hope that Sarah is eventually able to find answers to all of her questions. While reading this book my mouth watered in anticipation of the coming months when I can over-indulge in all things pumpkin!

Joyce and Jim Lavene have written another great series. Their ability to make the reader feel like they are part of the story is very evident in this book. I love Sarah Tucker and her personality. Thanks for the review. robeader53@yahoo.com